2008 Woodie Awards
Antibody Repairs MS Nerve Damage
Sarah Westen
Issue date: 10/18/07 Section: Sci/Tech
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On Tuesday, October 9, researchers announced at the annual meeting of the American Neurological Association (Washington, D.C.) that they have made progress in reversing nerve damage caused by multiple sclerosis.
A team from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, announced a single low dose of a human antibody administered to laboratory mice repaired myelin, the protective covering of nerves.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an incurable inflammatory disease that affects the central nervous system. The disease causes demyelination of neuron axons in patches throughout the brain and spinal cord. MS is categorized as an autoimmune disease because it is believed to result from attacks by the body's own immune system.
In healthy individuals, damage to myelin repairs itself naturally. But in people with MS and other disorders of the central nervous system, HealthDay News reports, myelin repair occurs slowly or not at all. Thus, information communication between the brain and the body is impaired, often causing problems with movement.
MS can create a variety of other symptoms, including muscle weakness, depression, changes in sensation, visual problems, difficulties with coordination and speech, severe fatigue and pain. The disease ranges in severity from relatively mild to completely disabling. Most patients suffer a form called "relapsing-remitting" MS, in which long periods of stability are punctuated by relapses that involve far more severe symptoms.
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS), in New York City, says some 400,000 people in the United States and 2.5 million people globally have been diagnosed with MS, most of them between the ages of 20 and 50 years.
The cause of the immune attack presented in MS is not fully understood. However, current treatments involve suppressing the body's immune system to keep it under control, even though this may cause unwanted side effects.
"This is an exciting first step in increasing our knowledge of repair in multiple sclerosis using a unique approach," said Patricia O'Looney, vice president of the biomedical research programs at NMSS. NMSS helped fund the study.
A team from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, announced a single low dose of a human antibody administered to laboratory mice repaired myelin, the protective covering of nerves.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an incurable inflammatory disease that affects the central nervous system. The disease causes demyelination of neuron axons in patches throughout the brain and spinal cord. MS is categorized as an autoimmune disease because it is believed to result from attacks by the body's own immune system.
In healthy individuals, damage to myelin repairs itself naturally. But in people with MS and other disorders of the central nervous system, HealthDay News reports, myelin repair occurs slowly or not at all. Thus, information communication between the brain and the body is impaired, often causing problems with movement.
MS can create a variety of other symptoms, including muscle weakness, depression, changes in sensation, visual problems, difficulties with coordination and speech, severe fatigue and pain. The disease ranges in severity from relatively mild to completely disabling. Most patients suffer a form called "relapsing-remitting" MS, in which long periods of stability are punctuated by relapses that involve far more severe symptoms.
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS), in New York City, says some 400,000 people in the United States and 2.5 million people globally have been diagnosed with MS, most of them between the ages of 20 and 50 years.
The cause of the immune attack presented in MS is not fully understood. However, current treatments involve suppressing the body's immune system to keep it under control, even though this may cause unwanted side effects.
"This is an exciting first step in increasing our knowledge of repair in multiple sclerosis using a unique approach," said Patricia O'Looney, vice president of the biomedical research programs at NMSS. NMSS helped fund the study.
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